A Cat Says Meow
by DarthMittens
Summary: Hermione goes to the Hogwarts Halloween party with the intent of catching Harry's eye and lets Ginny pick out her costume. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right? Warning: Cute Cat-Girl and Fluffiness. One-Shot.


**A/N: My first holiday one-shot, and it only took me two years to do one! Pure fluffiness like usual!**

**Enjoy!**

**A Cat Says Meow**

Hermione whimpered as she smoothed down her skirt in her mirror, violently cursing herself for letting Ginny pick her costume for the Halloween Party being held in the Great Hall.

While Hermione was in the shower Ginny had lain out her costume and stolen her wand so she couldn't alter it magically.

The hem of the skirt fell far above her fingers, which itched to pull the fabric down to cover even a small bit of her thighs. She didn't like being so exposed, especially around other people that knew her and that she saw regularly.

Especially around Harry.

She had been trying for all of her seventh year to catch Harry's eye, and dressing up in something that would expose her pale thighs that hadn't seen the light of day in several years probably wasn't the way to go about it.

The shirt wasn't all too good either. It was simple like the skirt – both of them were solid black (Ginny had said something about bringing her paleness to attention) – and it was just as exposing. Thanks to the push-up bra Ginny had laid out, an ample bit of her cleavage was being exposed. Hermione could quite confidently say this was the first time she had worn something that was emphasizing her breasts.

The costume was topped off with a little face paint for whiskers and the nose, a bit of glitter and make-up, and cat ears that were resting on top of her head. What really topped it all, though, was the tail hanging from the back of the skirt and the high heels, shoes that she had worn maybe three times in her entire life.

Ginny said she was going as a sexy cat, but Hermione had trouble seeing the 'sexy' in it at all.

Hermione took a deep breath, checked her hair one more time, and exited the bathroom with a scowl on her face. She couldn't believe Ginny was setting her up to be laughed at like this. She had thought Ginny was her friend.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Hermione." Ginny said, and Hermione felt her heart sink. She knew she wasn't sexy, but she was really that bad? "You look...amazing!" she cried.

Hermione blushed. _Oh_. "You really think so?" she said.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her. "You're not going to knock the socks off Harry with that attitude."

Now Hermione was really red. She had never told Ginny about her crush on Harry, mainly since they had dated at one point last year. "I...I-I...how did you? I never told anyone."

Ginny laughed. "Oh come on, Hermione. I see how you look at him. And I know there's plenty reason for you to like him." She laughed again at the look on Hermione's face. "If you want to get him tonight, you're going to have to be a sex kitten."

"A what?" Hermione asked, scandalized. She could never be a...a...well, one of those.

Ginny, who Hermione just realized was dressed as a sexy pirate (why did everything have to be sexy), put her hands on Hermione's shoulders and said, "Look, Hermione. Harry's an idiot when it comes to this stuff. If you ever want to go out with him, you're going to have to be proactive. He's only going to be single for so long. You can't stay in the shadow your whole life. Love happens in broad daylight."

Hermione took a deep breath. "You're right," she said. She let the breath out. "I need to be...sexy." Even the word felt weird in her mouth.

"That's the spirit, Hermione!" Ginny said. "Now give me your best sexy 'meow!'"

"M-Meow," Hermione said weakly while pawing at the air like a cat. Okay, so maybe the confidence booster hadn't been enough to get her to actually be sexy.

How was she going to do this in front of Harry?

Ginny's mouth was hanging open in shock. "Wow," she said. "Not what I was expecting, but the whole cute embarrassed face thing might work. Try to do it just like that in front of Harry, okay?"

Hermione nodded and pulled on her skirt a little. She should have no problem replicating that.

"Alright, let's go then!" Ginny said, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her along.

Hermione felt her heart thumping as they descended down to the Great Hall, oddly bumping into absolutely nobody on their way there. Hermione would have liked even a little feedback on her costume, though on second thought it was maybe better that nobody had seen her. Merlin, her costume was mortifying. Even she hadn't seen herself like this before.

When they finally arrived at the party, Hermione was looking every which way for Harry so she could properly hide from him. She wasn't ready for this. There was no way she would ever be able to look him in the eye again. She was clinging to the back of Ginny's shirt, hiding behind her, hoping her underwear wouldn't be showing since she was bending down a little to stay behind Ginny.

Luckily, everybody else seemed to be a bit too preoccupied to notice her, for which she was thankful.

"Oh, there they are!" Ginny exclaimed, pointing across the hall. There was no doubt that she spotted Ron's red head sticking above the rest of the heads in the hall. "You ready, Hermione?"

"No," she said with complete honesty, but Ginny had already grabbed her hand and was now dragging her across the hall.

"Don't be such a pansy, Hermione," Ginny said, unrelenting in her grip or dragging ferocity. "You're getting Harry tonight whether you like it or not." She grinned back at Hermione. "I know you're going to like it, though."

And before Hermione knew it, she was looking at Harry from over Ginny's shoulder. Harry looked good like usual in a James Bond costume, albeit a James Bond with round spectacles.

Ron was hanging out with Luna and Neville had his back to them, though he was obviously waiting for his girlfriend, Ginny, who tapped his shoulder, grinning at him and kissing him when he turned around.

And that left Hermione completely exposed to all of her friends' eyes. Luna smiled, Ron's eyes widened, Neville turned slightly red, and Harry spit his drink out all over the floor in a coughing fit. Hermione, Ginny's words in mind, did her best to resist covering herself.

"Hi guys," she said weakly. "Sorry for being so late."

Harry shook his head. "Not at all," he said. "You look...awesome as a cat, Hermione."

It almost sounded as though he was going to say something other than 'awesome' there for a second.

"Well your James Bond get-up isn't half bad either," she said.

Ginny threw a malicious grin at Hermione before turning to Harry and innocently saying, "She even meows, Harry."

"Do you?" he asked, a smile on his face. "I'd love to hear it."

Hermione did her best to not look nervous despite how red she knew she was. She made the pawing motion with her hand again and said, "M-Meow!" without meeting Harry's eyes. She just couldn't do it.

Harry's cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red and if Hermione had known better, she would have sworn he was looking at her chest.

"Excuse me for a moment," Harry said before practically running away, leaving Hermione behind and confused. So had he liked it?

"That. Was. Awesome," Ginny said. "You got him so bothered he needed a second alone!"

"Yeah, you're looking pretty hot there, Hermione," Ron said, Luna nodding beside him. "Harry's digging it."

"Go follow him," Luna said. "Attack before he can come up with a strategy."

The rest of her friends urged her on, making her think that she had been way more obvious with her feelings toward Harry than she had though. So did he know about them too?

Nevertheless, she took the encouragement to heart and went in the direction Harry had gone, trying to spot him. Could this finally be the moment where she finally claimed Harry as he own? She was shaking she was so excited.

Unfortunately, all her good thoughts flew out the window when Malfoy stepped in front of her, a smirk on his face and his arm wrapped around Pansy Parkinson.

"Look what we have here," Pansy said.

"A little mudblood slut dressed like...well, a slut," Malfoy said, laughing. "Could you be more desperate? You aren't even good-looking. A flat chest and ugly thighs. Cover those things up before you blind someone," he said as Pansy laughed again.

Hermione brushed past him, unable to help the tears that were forming in her eyes. He just had to bring up the two things she was most self-conscious about. Hermione kept her head down as her mascara began to run, though she was still doing her best to hold the tears in. She wouldn't let someone like Malfoy ruin her Halloween and certainly wouldn't let him make her cry.

Just as she put her hands on the doors to leave the Great Hall for a moment, her tears now mostly stymied, a hand closed on her wrist. "Hermione," Harry's voice said. "What's wrong?"

She tried not to look at him, she really did, but there was something about his voice that made her show him the state she was in. "Hey hey hey," he said. "What happened?" He led her out of the great hall and out into a corridor.

Hermione shook her head and tried to get rid of the tears now that she had stopped them. None had fallen, luckily, but her eyes had gotten damp enough to smudge her makeup a bit. "Malfoy," she said lamely, upset that he had managed to get her upset like that.

"That bastard," Harry said angrily as he pushed himself off the wall they were leaning against. "I'm going to beat the crap out of him."

Hermione stopped him with a hand on his arm, though. "Don't, Harry," she said, and he used all of his willpower to stop the urge to give Malfoy an ugly Halloween mask consisting of his actual face. "Just...just stay here with me for a little."

Harry sighed but complied, smiling (a little tensely) at Hermione as he did so. "Alright then," he said.

"Harry, really, it's fine," she said. "Don't let him ruin our Halloween."

Harry took a deep breath. "Alright," he said, letting the breath out slowly. "I'll beat the crap out of him tomorrow."

"Harry," Hermione said quietly, feeling her confidence build in herself. She wanted more. "Instead of focusing on Malfoy, how about you focus on what's right in front of you right now? Namely me, dressed in a ridiculous cat costume that makes me feel horribly exposed."

Harry laughed and looked over at her, this time actually meeting her eyes. "And what possessed you to wear such a costume?"

It was now or never. This exact opportunity is what Ginny had been talking about, and she sure as hell wasn't letting anyone else take Harry. "You!" she said forcefully, putting her hands on her hips. "Only you could be the reason I'd wear something ridiculous like this."

"Me?" Harry said, offended. "What do you mean it's my fault?"

So Ginny wasn't lying; Harry really was an idiot when it came to stuff like this.

So she raised herself on her tiptoes and planted her lips right on his, surprising him. He began kissing her back, though, and wrapped his arms around her as she did the same in return. When the finally broke apart, they were both flushed and their noses were still touching, Hermione's face-paint smudging Harry's nose a bit.

"That was why I wore such a ridiculous outfit to a party that a bunch of people were attending, Harry," she said.

"Well I'd say that's a pretty good reason," Harry said. "And I can't believe this is what Ginny did when I accidentally let slip that I have a cat-girl fetish last week. That's just mean."

"You have a cat-girl fetish?" Hermione asked, surprised. She hadn't been expecting that one.

He grinned at her. "I've also had a Hermione fetish for quite awhile now, so that was really a two-for-one."

Hermione blushed as Harry laughed. "But you really are cute, you know," Harry said. "Will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Hermione nodded excitedly, glad that the night had gone almost as well as she had hoped.

So maybe she wouldn't have to kill Ginny, but maybe a little maiming was in order.

**A/N: I know this story was very minimalistic and fast-paced, but frankly, I rushed it on purpose. This was just supposed to be a mini holiday thing, not something that's going to distract me from my real writing.**

**Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoyed it and hope you all have a happy Halloween!**


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